Not Just Jealous
by PhoenixTears13
Summary: After the Titans arrive back on earth from Tamaran, Robin finds himself up to all hours of the night, thinking about people he shouldn't be and being in places he knows he should avoid. RobinStarfire. One shot


Not Just Jealous  
By: Emerald Skye Wyoming

**_"Are you sure you're not just jealous?"_  
**Robin's fist collided with the punching bag in a burst of unintentional force, causing the bag to swing in a wide arc. Him jealous? Jealous of that large, ghastly, gooey green…_thing_? The idea was ridiculous, absurd, just the type of thought that would cross Cyborg's mind. Robin jealous? Impossible.

The punching bag continued to sway from its lofted position, its arc ever increasing as Robin's punches became harder and faster, fury building with ever hit. He needed to train; the groups detour to Tamaran had thrown off his entire schedule and he needed to train. Once he trained properly, exhausted himself properly he'd feel better…right? Right.

Rock music blasting from the stereo beat a steady rhythm into Robin's scull as he proceeded with his meaningless task. This type of workout didn't require thought, leaving his mind to wander, and while he would ordinarily be fine with it because it was his body that needed a workout, not his mind, (he wasn't Raven) today he didn't need to be thinking. His thoughts would only return to her. Her and how close he … no, how close they had come to loosing her. How close the Titans had come to being only four, because that was what she was a Titan and a friend, nothing more and nothing less.

Turning the stereo off, Robin un-wrapped the ace bandages from around his hands and flexed them lightly before rolling the bandages back up and putting them away. He rotated his neck, relieving the tension his workout had failed to eliminate and glanced at the clock; it was 10:51, had he really been working that long?

Was he really that upset over almost loosing her that he would let the time pass so recklessly? What if something had happened while he had been brooding? And why was he so upset over the almost lost of Starfire? He-They hadn't lost her, she was still here safe and sound in her bed and he had still climbed up the side of her castle to convince her to stay.

That was possibly the stupidest thing he had ever done and Robin knew it. Not only did it show lack of faith in Starfire's judgment, but it showed a side of Robin he preferred to keep hidden. The side that said Starfire was more than just a friend and a team-mate to him.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, jabbing the button so the doors would open and walking through them; maybe it was time he went to bed, or maybe he should go to the evidence room and get a head start on the analyzing of Slade's stuff.

There was so much to do and so little time and with his mind as clogged as it was, he didn't quite know what to do. Damn Blackfire, she just had to go and upset the balance of the Titans. She knew how much the Titans depended on Starfire, which was why she took her revenge in this form and now there would be lasting repercussions, at least for Robin.

He walked past the bedrooms, hesitating at Starfire's door, torn between wanting to make sure she was okay, and respecting her privacy. Finally he knocked, knowing it was late and she was probably asleep, and not quite carrying; he had to know she was present and accounted for. He wouldn't let her go again.

"Starfire? Star, are you awake?" He called quietly, tapping on the door with his knuckles and waiting with bated breath for her answer. When she didn't reply he knocked again before jabbing the button and letting the doors slide back before him.  
And there she was, wrapped up in her blankets with her head hanging off the bed as usual. Tentatively and knowing how much trouble he could get in for venturing into her room at night, Robin stepped forward, looking around. He had never actually been in Star's room as she preferred to keep to the common area during the day and he found it oddly purple and somewhat dark.  
He took a deep breath and sighed deeply, turning to leave when a rustling in the covers stopped him dead in his tracks, "Robin?"  
He had been caught. He, Robin, had been caught in Starfire's room in the middle of the night by a sleepy Starfire. Robin felt heat rise in his cheeks as he revolved slowly on the spot to face the Tamaranian Princess.

Her hair was thoroughly messed up, wavy in one direction and then another and her eyes were rounder than usual and somewhat sleepy. She wore a long purple nightgown that reached past mid-thigh and purple slipper-socks which poked out from her blanket. Robin's cheeks grew red and he silently admonished himself for being so stupid as to be caught.

"Robin, have you entered my dwelling at night?" Starfire asked, swinging her feet over the side of her round bed and standing up. Robin gulped, feeling like he was in some sort of a bad dream.

"I'm not sure, Star." He murmured, shrugging casually as the alien girl frowned. And he wasn't sure; he didn't know what could compel him to enter Starfire's room in the dead of night. All he knew was that he was there.

"Are you ill, Robin?" She questioned, coming forward and placing a hand on Robin's forehead. "Your face is quite red."

Starfire's scent enveloped him softly, a light sprinkling of…roses? No, it was something sweeter than that, peaches maybe, or mangoes, judging from her love of them. Whatever it was, it smelled wonderful to Robin and he inhaled deeply without meaning to. How long had it been since he'd allowed his guard to drop?

"I'm fine Star." Robin replied, smiling at her.

Her touch was gentle as she pressed on his forehead, trying to determine whether or not he was sick. Her hands were smooth and soft and Robin couldn't help himself leaning into her caress as she moved her hand to his cheek, attempting to get a temperature reading from there. How long had it been since he'd allowed someone to touch him with concern?

"Robin? Robin? Robin! Can you hear me?" Starfire waved her hand frantically in front of his face dispersing her scent and depriving him of her touch. His vision snapped back into focus onto her worried face.

"I'm sorry Starfire, what did you say?"

The pretty alien girl's frown deepened to a scowl and she clutched his arm, pulling him over to her bed. "Are you sure you are well? Your face is horridly red and you do not seem to hear what I am saying." She pushed him onto the bed and stood over him, her hands on her slim hips. "Why are you awake so late?"

"I was training." He muttered, now fully alert and blaming his light-headed-ness on anything but the real cause. Starfire shook her head and sat down beside him, letting her scent begin to waft over Robin once more.

"Robin." She scolded him with care, "You should not work yourself so hard. What drives you to exhaust yourself tonight?"

'_You almost leaving us_.' Robin thought bitterly, but knew he couldn't possibly say that. So instead he shrugged and muttered, almost inaudibly, "I don't know, Star."

Starfire let out a long exasperated sigh and folded her arms across her chest, turning to face him with wide, confused green eyes.

"Robin, you worry me." She told him finally, "You worry about me, as well as the rest of the Titans and work yourself to death. You are often overly stressed and still refuse to take a break. Now, something was bothering you tonight or you would have not worked so hard, and you would not have appeared in my room, so what is it? Are you ill? Has Slade re-appeared? Were you searching for a way to free Terra? Tell me Robin, I only want to help." Her eyes begged and pleaded with him to tell her and he hated to make her worry, but he could not tell her his fear.

Starfire, seeing his unwillingness to tell her, cast her eyes downward in misery, "Again, you do not trust me with your secrets. It is just like the Red X all over again."

Starfire's words hit him hard, bringing back a conversation they had had earlier. '_Whoever Slade is, you and he are…similar; Slade did not trust you, Robin, and you did not trust us_'

The same hurt which had been apparent in her speech then, was easy to hear now and Robin almost choked on his words as they cam spilling out, "It's not that I don't trust you Star, its that what was worrying me would change everything…forever." She  
looked back at him and gave him a questioning look.

"I do not mind, Robin, I deeply wish to know."

"Alright then." Robin replied, taking a deep breath and glancing around her room before shaking his head; he couldn't do it in here. Not in her bedroom where she slept. It would have to be somewhere else, somewhere away from the rest of the Titans and somewhere that she didn't often visit in the Tower so the room wouldn't be tainted with the memory of what he was going to say.

"Let's go somewhere else." He offered, standing up and resisting a smile when Starfire's eyes glowed green.

"You are not going to escape telling me, Robin." She warned, but followed him out of her bedroom anyway. He led her down through the workings of the Tower, past each room and to his special workroom/office where he pulled up a chair and took a deep breath.

"No one will bother us here." He explained lamely when she gave him a questioning look.

"No one would have bothered us anywhere Robin." Starfire replied, "Everyone is asleep." Robin blushed and nodded.

"Good point." He twiddled his thumbs restlessly, a trait he normally despised, but was very grateful right now. "Look, Star, I was up so late because I was thinking about…" He trialed of, his voice a bundle of nerves, Starfire gazed at him eagerly.

"Yes, Robin?"

"Thinking about…" He exhaled loudly, concealing the last word in his breath, "You."

"I'm sorry Robin, I didn't hear you." She replied, her eyes wide with confusion. "You were thinking about…"

"You." He muttered through gritted teeth, then took a deep breath and turned to her, "I was thinking about you, Star. I was worrying, obsessing about you." There, he had said it and she seemed more confused than anything. He stared at her apprehensively, awaiting her response and couldn't help but hold his breath, only letting it out when he saw comprehension dawn on her face.

"And that is why you came to my dwelling?" She asked carefully, studying his face with the utmost concentration. Robin nodded and Starfire leaned forward in her seat, completely mystified.

After a moment she opened her mouth to say something and then closed it again, repeating this motion once more before actually speaking, "Oh."

Robin glanced down at the ground, his stomach turning on itself, at least he hadn't actually told her he liked her, just that he was worrying about her, he worried about everyone, she had said it herself, so it really wasn't that big of a deal.

"Look, Star, I want to ask you a question." Starfire, who had been staring into space, turning her attention back to him. Crap, he hadn't meant to say it out loud, now he had to go ahead and ask it. "If it had been some other guy, instead of Glurdalschelch, would you have done what you did?"

It had been bothering him lately, the uncertainty of it all. Star didn't know her sister was up to her old evil tricks again. She didn't know that Blackfire was trading her off for a jewel instead of the freedom of Tamaran (which wasn't endanger to begin with). All Starfire knew was that she didn't love Glurdalschelch, that she didn't even like him and any chance of her ever feeling something was completely ridiculous because he wasn't even remotely attractive. But what if it had been someone else? Someone handsome who she _could_ have fallen in love with; would she have left the Titans for him? Or would she have fought her sister for the crown anyway?

"I don't understand Robin." Starfire murmured, "What did I do?"

"You know…" He mumbled, wondering how he could fight monsters, work for Slade and still be scared out of his mind by Starfire. "Refused to marry him and all…"

"I-II do not know." She replied dejectedly, before asking, "Why?"

'_Because I don't want you to ever leave.'_ Robin's brain yelled, as he studied the way her hair was falling in front of her face, just begging him to push it behind her ear. '_Because I can't stand the thought of you every leaving.'_ His fingers twitched experimentally in his lap and her hair fell even further into her face as she ducked her head, waiting for his answer. _'Because the Titans need you and even if they didn't **I** need you.'  
_

That was it, he couldn't take it anymore. Tentatively, Robin picked his hands up and fingered the red locks falling in her face before neatly placing them behind her ear, his hand resting on her cheek. Starfire inhaled sharply and turned to look at him, her eyes wide with surprise. Hesitantly, Robin moved his hand from her cheek to her chin, making it so she faced him completely and then placing his lips where his hand had been moments before.

Kissing her lightly once on the cheek, Robin then moved his lips to her own and pressed lightly down, attempting to contain his smile when Starfire pressed back, closing her eyes with pleasure and breathing deeply. He stood up, bringing her with him, and wrapped an arm around her waist while letting the other tangle in her hair. After a minute or so, Starfire pulled back to stare at him.

"Why…" She began and then shook her head, closing the gap once more, but Robin wasn't satisfied with her silence. He pulled back and placed his forehead on hers.

"You're not allowed to go get married on me Star." He whispered, "I'll chase you down again."

She giggled and let him kiss her again. Robin couldn't help but smile into her kiss, he had no reason to be jealous, he was right where he wanted to be.


End file.
